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For small business owners, contracting with a local, state, or federal government agency can be a potentially lucrative opportunity. In 2013 alone, federal contracts awarded to small businesses resulted in more than $83 billion in revenue. But there are, of course, potential bad sides to contracting with government agencies. Here are three ways a government contracting deal can go sour: If your business is considering becoming a government contractor, a business lawyer can help guide you through the process....

One of the newest health treatments that celebrities are going crazy for is cryotherapy. Since celebrities are often an example for the rest of us non-celebs, it’s no surprise that cryotherapy is being used by “regular” people as well. But, what exactly is cryotherapy? And, if you end up with injuries, can you sue? What Is Cryotherapy? Cryotherapy involves standing in a chamber with air that’s chilled from anywhere between -150 to -290 degrees Fahrenheit for about three minutes....

San Diego engineering student Daniel Chong has received an apology from the Drug Enforcement Agency. DEA agents accidentally left Chong in a cell for five days without food or water, the Associated Press reports. Chong, 24, had to drink his own urine in order to survive the ordeal. At one point he also bit into his glasses and used the shards to scratch “Sorry Mom” on his arm. The University of California, San Diego student was swept up with nine suspect in a “4/20” drug raid that seized 18,000 ecstasy pills and other narcotics....

The popular club drug “Molly” is being blamed for at least three deaths in Massachusetts and New York as summer comes to a close, leaving the liability for the fatalities open for debate. Clubs and Boston and NYC have been host to “Molly” overdoses during both music festivals and concerts, and police say the uptick of fatal overdoses may be due to “a bad batch” of Molly being sold in the Northeast, reports The Christian Science Monitor....

American Airlines employees got some new uniforms last fall, but that hasn’t been good news for many of them. Since the introduction of the new uniforms, manufactured by Twin Hill, over 5,000 flight attendants, pilots, gate agents, and customer service representatives have reported physical or allergic reactions to the new work wear, including rashes, hives, and headaches, and even severe respiratory issues. American Airlines finally cut ties with Twin Hall in June, but two employees have filed a lawsuit against the clothing manufacturer, seeking a full recall of the harmful uniforms as well as a fund to pay for medical care and monitoring of American Airlines employees exposed to the uniforms....

Two waitresses from New York have filed a class action lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court against the risqué restaurant establishment for forcing them to buy and dry clean their skimpy uniforms without reimbursement. The outfits which consist of orange hotpants, a tanktop, pantyhose and thick white socks costs less than $20 but under New York State labor law, an employer must supply its workers with uniforms if they are not regular street clothes....

The murdered-out look is certainly nothing new. Car heads have been blacking out their rides for years. And for just as long, drivers of blacked-out cars have been getting attention from law enforcement. The latest driver to draw the ire of police is “Keeping up With Kardashians” cast member and pseudo-Kardashian sister Kylie Jenner. According to TMZ, Jenner was pulled over by Los Angeles police and cited for the black covers on her murdered-out Range Rover earlier this week....

Bank of America is paying $14 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the bank’s Merrill Lynch unit of overworking and underpaying trainees. According to the lawsuit, trainees in Merrill’s Practice Management Development program were forced to work 60 hours per week or more, including weekends, without being paid overtime. Although the settlement only comes out to about $1,000 for each of the roughly 9,500 plaintiffs after legal fees, the settlement could teach business owners small and large about the perils of violating labor laws....

Can a Judge Tell You What to Wear in Court? The Michigan Supreme Court has voted 5-2 to give judges across the state control over what witnesses wear in court, which could very well include the veil Muslim women sometimes wear, the AP reports. The issue came up after Ginnnah Muhammad, a Muslim woman, refused to remove her niqab and had her case dismissed by a judge. The AP piece noted that the dispute over Muslim veils in court is a “cutting-edge issue” likely to recur elsewhere in the country, so Michigan’s high court may have set an important example....

A crash during the final lap of 2013 race at the Daytona International Speedway sent driver Kyle Larson’s car airborne into the catch fence and debris flying into the grandstand. Some of that debris struck Allen Davis in the head, causing a catastrophic, traumatic brain injury. Davis sued NASCAR and Daytona’s parent company, International Speedway Corp., and was seeking NASCAR’s investigation report of the accident. But the two parties settled out of court, allowing NASCAR to keep the report under wraps....

Death penalty cases have dwindled in North Carolina over the past decade. Several reasons have factored into the decline of the death sentence including prosecutors seeking death sentences less often and juries voting less frequently for death penalties, the News Observer reports. In addition, there are higher costs associated with capital trials, which have prompted calls for abolishment of the death penalty. To date, there are 35 states where capital punishment is allowed - but used less and less frequently....

Former New York judge Ronald H. Tills was sentenced to a year and half in jail for transporting a group of prostitutes across state lines in an RV. Amongst those he recruited as prostitutes to participate in debauched parties of the “Royal Order of Jesters” were women who appeared as defendants in his court. As reported by The Buffalo News, 74 year old Tills is the first to receive jail time following a federal probe into weekend blowouts held by the Royal Order of Jesters....

Exclusivity and mistreatment is always unpleasant, there is just no denying it. Sometimes we have to live with it and sometimes we may even choose to ignore it for our own purposes. But if you are being excluded based on who you are or a legally protected characteristic, then discrimination is a basis for legal action. There are a number of local, state, and federal laws that mandate equal treatment in various settings, and these outline the obligations of businesses or institutions dealing with the public....

If you’ve been in a car accident, you should do everything you can to document what happened. But that’s not the whole story. There are a few things you’ll want to take care of first, and many things you’ll need to take care of after. Here’s what you need to know about taking pictures of your car accident: First Things First Before you attempt to be the Ansel Adams of car accidents, check on the other drivers and passengers....

Most patients would prefer to avoid being treated by a sleep-deprived doctor. Until now, that is. While images of exhausted residents and sleep-deprived physicians are common on Grey’s Anatomy, it seems that the medical profession has finally acknowledged that lack of sleep increases the chance for error. The result is the implementation of new standards that force residents to take some rest breaks. Now, first-year residents can only work a maximum of one 16-hour shift before they need to take an 8-hour break, according to WebMD....

Throughout the presidential campaign, many wondered how good a Donald Trump presidency would be for business. While some feared his unpredictability would send markets reeling, others, banking on his remarks and history as a business owner would mean good news for other business owners. And just over a week into his presidency, Trump issued an executive order promising to reduce regulation and regulatory costs. Essentially, if a federal agency is going to enact any new regulation, including those placed upon small businesses, they would need to revoke two existing regulations....

While many small businesses want to hire more employees, many small business owners feel that they can not afford the benefits that come with a new hire. A press release from Intuit, Inc. states that: “The latest Intuit Payroll survey from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) finds that nearly half of the small business owners surveyed, 44 percent, are planning to hire new employees within the next 12 months. At the same time, many small business owners believe that benefits are key to attracting new hires but are finding them difficult to afford....

Could a Starbucks tip jar have been the catalyst for a patron’s death? On March 3, 2008, Roger Kreutz, 54, of Missouri was ordering up some caffeine when Aaron Poisson, 19, grabbed the barista tip jar and tried to escape the store, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports. Kreutz caught up with Poisson and a fight occurred near Poisson’s car. In the altercation, Kreutz was thrown to the ground when Poisson hit him with his car....

The last thing you want dragging your startup down is long-term litigation. There are always legal risks to starting a business, but frivolous lawsuits and out-of-nowhere class action suits can scuttle your company before launch (or lunch, even). One way many businesses – large and small – are attempting to avoid costly and damaging legal battles is through arbitration agreements, which funnel disputes to private dispute resolution rather than public courts....

The Food and Drug Administration regulates the approval and safety of everything from food (obviously) to dietary supplements, cosmetics, medications, and even blood transfusions. As you can imagine, marijuana-based products can fall under quite a few of those headings: cannabidiol extract to treat seizures; pot brownies, gummies, sodas, and other food products for medical marijuana patients; and, of course, the weed itself for recreational users. That’s the biggest question, right? And the FDA does point out that it has approved four drugs for discrete medical use: one for the treatment of seizures, and the other three for anorexia associated with weight loss in AIDS patients....